Nuclear Watchdog Says Any US Test Would Be ‘Grave Challenge to Peace’
Julian Borger | Guardian
The head of the international watchdog monitoring nuclear tests has warned that a US return to testing being contemplated by the Trump administration would present a “grave challenge to global peace and security”. Lassina Zerbo, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), was responding to the news that staging the first US underground test in 28 years had been discussed at a high-level White House meeting on 15 May. The idea was shelved for the time being, but appears not to have been rejected outright. Arms control advocates said that the fact such a step was contemplated was disturbing, as it would be likely to lead to a return to nuclear testing by the world’s other nuclear weapons powers, and the demise of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty (CTBT).
Russian General Decries ‘Provocative’ NATO Drills Near Its Border
Vladimir Isachenkov | AP
The Russian military on Monday accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of conducting “provocative” military drills near the nation’s borders, a statement that reflected simmering Russia-NATO tensions. Col.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian General Staff said Russia has sent a formal letter to NATO proposing to scale down each other’s military activities for the period of the coronavirus outbreak, but the alliance has stonewalled the offer. Rudskoi particularly mentioned recent NATO maneuvers in the Barents Sea, charging that they emulated strikes on Russian territory and the intercept of Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. Rudskoi said the drills were the first of the kind by NATO since the Cold War. Rudskoi also pointed at an increased number of flights by U.S. nuclear-capable strategic bombers near Russia’s frontiers last month.
Initial Analysis of New Sub-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile Coming ‘Shortly’
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
The Pentagon is not seeing major delays “at this time” to its nuclear warhead modernization efforts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a top nuclear official at the department. The Department of Defense also hopes to “shortly” see initial results from an analysis of alternatives about a potential new nuclear submarine-launched cruise missile, said Drew Walter, who is performing the duties of deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear matters. “Initial results are coming back shortly to help inform the [FY22 presidential budget request] build. We probably won’t complete for some time after that, the [analysis of alternatives], but the initial results will help inform where we should be going,” Walter said.
North Korea Still Operating, Improving Major Nuclear Fuel Plant, Experts Say
Ken Dilanian and Andrea Mitchell | NBC News
A key source of material for North Korea's nuclear program remains operational and continues to be updated, according to a coming report based on recent satellite photos that underscores the persistence of a top threat to U.S. national security. In a preview of their analysis obtained exclusively by NBC News, North Korea experts Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Victor Cha say imagery taken in March depicts ongoing activity at the Pyongsan Uranium Concentrate Plant, which is believed to produce so-called yellowcake uranium, a precursor of nuclear fuel. Cha, who was President George W. Bush's top Korea adviser, said the continuing work at the facility demonstrates the North Koreans' "unrelenting effort to grow their capabilities despite three summits and the utter failure of the one diplomatic negotiation that Trump has put any effort into."
China to Dominate Nuclear Power as Beijing Bets on Homegrown Reactors
Bloomberg
China probably won’t hit its nuclear energy target this year, but that’s unlikely to derail a broader ambition to become the planet’s chief proponent of the climate-friendly fuel by the end of the decade. In an energy mix that’ll still heavily feature coal and other fossil fuels, government researchers have said that nuclear capacity could more than double to 130 gigawatts by 2030. While that would be only about 10 percent of national power generation, such is China’s heft in energy markets it would still save the amount of carbon that Germany emits annually from burning coal, oil and gas. Still, GlobalData PLC predicts that China will pass France as the world’s No. 2 nuclear generator in 2022 and claim the top spot from the U.S. four years after that.
Trump Needs to Reach Burden-Sharing Deal With S. Korea: US Lawmaker, Expert
Lee Haye-ah | Yonhap News Agency
U.S. President Donald Trump should reach a defense cost-sharing agreement with South Korea and work together to counter North Korea's nuclear threat, an American lawmaker and a Korea expert said Monday. In a joint contribution to The Washington Post, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, lamented the impasse in defense cost-sharing talks between South Korea and the United States. “Rather than focusing on near- and long-term threats posed by the North Korean regime, Washington and Seoul are entirely absorbed by a petty dispute over who pays for what,” they wrote. Bera is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation.